Cat in the Water
by M. K. Slade
Summary: Adam is taking a few of the Ducks on vacation where something terrible happens to Julie. Who will save her? One-shot of one of my favorite couples.


Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own the Ducks, or anything to do with them, for if I did, then I would know Vincent A. Larusso, Mike Vitar and Garrett Ratliff Henson.

I wish.

Author's Note: This just randomly came into my head and I needed to write it down. A simple one shot, so hopefully I will actually be able to finish my first piece.

Set in the Ducks' sophomore year at Eden Hall.

**

* * *

Cat in the Water**

"So guys, any big plans for February vacation?" Adam Banks asked his fellow friends and teammates as they exited the doors of Eden Hall, fresh after the final bell before break.

"I was actually just going to hang around here, I guess." Julie replied, " A bit too far away from home for me."

"Same here." Goldberg said- his parents had moved back to Philadelphia.

"I was just going to go home with my mom. Nothing special." Charlie answered.

"Why are you asking anyway, Banks?" Guy asked.

"Well…see, my parent's own this huge 'cottage' by a lake up north, and they said that any of you guys are welcome to tag along." Adam answered as about half the team sat down on a bench, donned in scarves and hats and wearing their heavy backpacks full of their homework for vacation.

"Seriously?" Connie asked, for she hadn't had anything planned either.

"Yeah…it's definitely big enough to fit most of us. All I have to do is give them a call and tell them how many of you guys want to come."

"Sure!" Connie said, " Guy and I would love to come." She added, giving Guy a wink.

"Yeah…sure we would." Guy answered awkwardly.

"Sorry, I already promised Kathy that I'd stay with her and her parents." Luis said, speaking of his girlfriend of two months-- his longest relationship to date.

"I'm in." Julie said with a smile.

* * *

So, Adam called his parents and the next day, a Mercedes and a Volvo drove in front of the gates of Eden Hall to take Adam and his friends to northern Minnesota. In the end, Connie, Guy, Julie, Goldberg, Charlie, Averman and Fulton agreed to join Adam and his parents. They all piled into the cars, large bags full of hockey gear, because Adam assured them that the lake would be frozen enough to skate on.

The drive took about two and a half hours and was mostly passed with snacks, music and talking. So, the Ducks were all in a good mood by the time they pulled down a dirt road and into the snowy driveway in front of the Banks' cottage. The eight friends filed out of the two cars into the warm air, seven of them stopping dead in their tracks.

"What?" Adam asked, seeing that they were all staring at the house.

"Maybe no one ever told you before, or you know…maybe you just never looked at it from the outside…but this place is huge!" Goldberg exclaimed.

"Do you expect anything less from a cake eater?" Fulton jested. Adam grinned.

They all pulled their bags out of the jam-packed trunks and descended the steep hill that led to the gorgeous, white cottage that appeared to be at least three stories tall. Behind the cottage and trees, they could see a small fraction of the lake that was indeed, frozen.

"Careful going down the hill guys, it's pretty slippery with the snow." Adam called over his shoulder as he led the way towards the house.

"Oh, please, Banks." Connie, the second-to-last to go down, yelled, " We've been on the ice half of our lives. Do you really think that we can't handle a little snow?"

"I'm just saying…"

Everyone had made into the house by the time Connie was half way down the hill, with Guy at her heels. The two heavy bags dangling form her shoulders caused her to lose her balance, and her foot slid across a slippery piece of hard snow. Her foot slid forward and she began to fall backwards when Guy grabbed her arm. But she kept falling, and soon he lost his balance as well and they both tumbled to the ground, Guy landing right on top of Connie. Their laughter carried across the lake.

"You handled that snow quite well." Guy teased, his face inches from her's.

"Shut up, you fell too you know."

"Yeah…but only because you pulled me." He added, lowering himself closer to her.

"I told you!" Adam's voice rang from out of the door.

"Damn it, Banks!" Guy growled, then lowered his voice back to normal, "Why? WHY do they always interrupt me just seconds before I make my move?"

"Because…you never make your 'move' quickly enough." Connie said with a giggle, and pulled Guy's head a few inches closer for a quick kiss.

Then she rolled him off of her, picked up her bags and slid the rest of the way to the cottage. Guy remained lying on the snow, a triumphant grin spread across his face.

An hour later, the eight ducks were out on the ice, skating around before they began a three on three scrimmage, with Julie and Goldberg in as goalies. Adam and Charlie had pulled out two old goals that they had out on the ice. The game began, Connie, Guy, Banks and Goldberg verses Charlie, Fulton, Averman and Julie.

The game had only been going on for about five minutes, when Connie took an awful shot that went far to the right past Julie's goal.

"I'll get it!" Julie exclaimed as she tossed off her gloves and quickly skated off into the middle of the lake to retrieve the puck. Just as she had reached the spot where it lay however, the ice made a terrible cracking noise that echoed across the whole lake. Before the Ducks even knew what was happening, the ice gave another gigantic crack, and Julie fell right into the lake.

"Oh, my God!" Connie screeched, and went to go skate after her.

"Connie, wait! It's not safe!" Guy yelled. But she kept skating forward, until Fulton stopped in front of her, and had to pick her up and skate her back so that she didn't go out onto the thin ice. Meanwhile, Adam had skated as fast as he could back to the cottage to find something long enough to stick out to Julie. Averman had gone to go call 911.

Julie's hand was suddenly thrown out of the small pool of water, and her faint screech could be heard by all of them. By then, Fulton had to hold back Charlie from going to help her as Guy held onto Connie. Both of the restrainers however, were too far away from the other goal to notice that Goldberg had whipped off his helmet and gloves and was skating faster than any of them had ever seen him towards Julie.

"Goldberg, you idiot!" Charlie screamed, "You're heavier than any of us!"

But Goldberg didn't seem to have heard Charlie. He continued towards Julie and slowed down as he approached her, then slid down onto his knees. Still holding his goalie stick, he cautiously crept towards her, holding it out with his right arm. Her head suddenly burst out of the water again, and her eyes lay on the stick just before she fell back in.

The ice was slowly cracking underneath Goldberg, "Hold on, Catlady!" he yelled.

He pushed himself about a foot closer to the hole, so that the top of the stick was slightly inside of the water. Julie popped up again and attempted to grab the stick, but her hands slid right off. Goldberg got dangerously closer so that his knees were resting just before the edge of the crack. He lowered the end of the stick deeper into the water, and Julie emerged yet again, gasping for breath. Her left hand managed to grab hold of the stick, but her right kept slipping off. Goldberg leaned forward and grabbed her right hand with his own, his other hand covering her left. The hockey stick fell out of Julie's hands and onto the ice. Miraculously, Goldberg was able to slowly lift her out of the hole, until her knees rested on the ice. Shivering and sputtering, she collapsed onto his shoulder, as he wrapped his arms around her waist and slid her back towards the thicker ice.

The ice in front of them gave another gigantic crack, and the hole became deeper as Goldberg's stick fell into the freezing water. He pushed himself and Julie back farther, until they were a safe distance from the water.

The others skated over to the pair quickly, Averman last, explaining that the paramedics would be there any minute. Julie appeared to be in a terrible state, she was as pale as a ghost, drenched form head to foot and seemed to be close to unconsciousness. She was shaking like crazy as Goldberg tried to peel off her wet jersey and pads, with the help of the others. When only her t-shirt and pants (her bottom-most layer, which was still drenched) remained, Goldberg peeled off his jacket and threw it around her shoulders. Getting the idea, Guy and Adam took off theirs' and draped them over Julie like a blanket.

By that time, the Ducks could hear the ambulance approaching and soon three paramedics were heading onto the ice, a stretcher between them. They pushed the others aside, picked Julie up and placed her on the stretcher and two of them slowly carried the stretcher up the slippery hill. The third paramedic had a few questions to ask.

"How long was she in the water for?"

"A-about two minutes." Charlie stuttered, since no one else would answer. They all seemed to be completely stunned. Connie was shaking in Guy's arms and the others were all staring at Goldberg, who looked as if he couldn't even breathe.

"All right, and was she breathing okay when you pulled her out of the water?"

Everyone looked at Goldberg. Realizing the question was meant for him, he gave a very small nod, never moving his eyes from the spot on the ice that he had been staring at since they had taken Julie.

"Is-is she going to be okay?" Connie asked quietly as a single tear rolled down her cheek.

"I hope so." The paramedic answered quietly, "And if she is, it's all thanks to you, son. We'll be taking her to Lynn Hospital." He said giving Goldberg a pat on the shoulder. Then he ran up the hill, into the ambulance and drove off.

_If_.

No more than ten minutes later, the Ducks and Adam's parents were sitting in front of the room where they had taken Julie. Connie was squeezing Guy's hand so hard that it was practically blue, but he didn't even seem to notice. Everyone was anxiously waiting for the doctor to come out and report Julie's condition.

It had felt like hours, but forty-five minutes later, the doctor finally came out with a weak smile on his face. All of the Ducks immediately stood up, and before any of them could speak, the doctor did.

"She's going to be all right." He said quietly, they all sighed with relief. " She had a small amount of water in her lungs, but we were able to get that out of her. She has a slight pneumonia in both of her lungs, but that's nothing a little rest and Penicillin can't cure."

"Hypothermia?" Goldberg asked quietly. It was the first time he had spoken since the incident.

"No." the doctor answered, laying a hand on Goldberg's shoulder, "You got her out of the water quickly enough." They all thanked him and he walked away.

Seconds later, Julie emerged from the door, still wearing Goldberg's jacket (the paramedics had left Guy's and Adam's on the ice) and the dry clothes Connie had brought for her. Julie walked directly into her best friend's arms and embraced her as if she hadn't seen her in months. Charlie, Guy, and Adam went to give Julie a hug as well, Averman and Fulton feeling too awkward, and Goldberg standing away from the others, watching Julie as a silent tear fell down her face.

* * *

The next day, Connie, Charlie, Fulton, Averman, Guy and Adam went outside to have a snowball fight. Julie stayed in her and Connie's room, where the Bankses had hooked up a small television so she wouldn't be bored while having to stay in bed all day. Goldberg had told the others to go ahead without him; that he wasn't up for a snowball fight.

As the others walked out of the door, wearing their snow gear, Goldberg headed upstairs to where Connie and Julie were sleeping. The door stood completely open so that Goldberg could see Julie inside, sitting on her bed, the light from the television shining across her face. He leaned against the doorframe to watch her, not wanting to face the awkwardness of walking straight in. Julie appeared to be physically all right, but her facial expression showed obvious disappointment and boredom. She was still wearing her pajamas, and was sitting with her back against her pillow, the sheets pulled up to her chest.

It took her a few minutes to even realize that Goldberg was standing there, but when she did, she pulled the sheets off of her and turned around on her bed.

"Goldberg…come in." she said quietly.

Goldberg gave a weak smile and was walking towards her when she stood up, tears strolling down her cheeks.

"Catlady, what-''

But she had him embraced in a hug before he could even finish his sentence.

"Connie…she…she told me what you did. How you got me out."

She pulled back from him, a weak smile on her face, as she wiped away her tears. A short piece of hair fell from her ponytail, and into her face. Instinctively, Goldberg reached forward to push it back behind her ear, his palm resting on her cheek. She brought her hand up to his, holding it to her face.

"Thank you." She barely managed to whisper, as they closed the small space between them for a short, sweet kiss.

Julie smiled, and still holding his hand, led Goldberg to her bed. She got back underneath the covers and moved over so there was room for Goldberg to sit down next to her. He awkwardly kicked off his shoes and joined her. Julie pulled the blankets over the two of them and snuggled into Goldberg's chest when he wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"Hey…Julie?"

"Hmm?"

"You-uhh- you do realize that this is me, right? I mean, you're not like delirious or anything from the medicine?"

Julie just laughed and smiled. "Of course I know it's you Goldberg." She said, replying with a long kiss that pretty much convinced Goldberg that she was being honest.

"Oh, and there's something else." Goldberg muttered as she pulled away slightly.

"Yeah?"

"Is pneumonia contagious?"

"No." Julie answered with a grin. Goldberg appeared to be rather relieved. " But my cold is." She added, and kissed him before he could even say anything.

A week later, the Ducks were back at Eden Hall and starting their first practice since after vacation. Everyone else was out on the ice, skating around while waiting for Coach Orion. Julie was heading towards the ice, fully padded, when she reached the open gate and suddenly stopped. Not long after, Goldberg appeared behind her, placing a sympathetic hand on her shoulder.

"This ice isn't going to crack, Jules." He said, after looking at her hesitant face.

"I know." She said quietly, then turned around to Goldberg and smiled. She stepped out onto the ice, and they skated off together.

_Fin_.

* * *

Author's Note: Oh, hoorah! I've always wanted to say that! And now I have finally, FINALLY finished something! It feels so good. So tell me, did it suck, was it okay, did you love it? I want to know. Be honest. I always accept criticism. 


End file.
